Comics are Worth More More Words than Pictues
by Burning Ice Phoenix
Summary: AU Kiku is secretly a manga artist who falls in love with his best friend. On Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

Kiku could hear the blonde coming before he even arrived at the floor he was in. It wasn't that he was psychic and knew where his best friend was at all times, but just the fact that the American was loud. It was as if Alfred had a giant megaphone with him always. With so much warning, Kiku had more than enough time to stuff the pages he was working on into his bag and out of sight.

"KIKUUUUU!" Alfred yelled as he burst through the library doors, looking for the Asian.

"Mr. Jones!" The librarian scolded and held a finger to her lips, telling him that he should be quiet.

"Right, right, sorry Miss." He said as he flashed her an apologetic smile. "Where's Kiku sitting at?" The Japanese boy was always sitting at a different place each day and Alfred never had the patience to look around the room for him.

"The back of the room, Mr. Jones." The librarian said with a sigh. "You've got fine eyes, why don't you use them?"

"I'll do it next time! Thanks!" Alfred said, seeing Kiku sitting at a table in the back, working on his homework. As he walked over to join his friend, he past by a group of girls who stared slightly before bursting into excited giggles.

Kiku knew that reaction very well. He had seen it happen many times when he was with Alfred. Alfred was popular and good looking. It was only natural that many girls were interested in him. "Yes, Alfred? What did you need me for?" Kiku said, looking up from his homework, pretending that he had been working on that problem the whole time.

"Kiku." Alfred said with a serious look on his face. "I can't believe it. ...Why on earth did he choose the other girl?" He yelled, slamming a manga book and leaning back on his chair, covering his face with his hands.

Kiku smiled nervously, he knew that Alfred would react like this. He had introduced the American to the series a few months ago, when they first met. "...Well, maybe the author had something else in mind?" He said softly, not wanting to upset Alfred.

"But...But...Arghh!" Alfred yelled in annoyance as he sat up straight again. "Still! She was getting along with her so well...!"

Kiku sighed and looked at the cover of the book. At most ten people knew his secret. They were his family, editor, company boss, and a few other manga artists. He was the author of this series. He had started it not long ago, it was only the third volume. So far into it, the main character, Sakura, was a new girl in the school. She was quick to become best friends with a girl named Daisy, who was an Italian. The problem arises, however, when they both meet Alexander. Alexander was also new in the school, he had just moved to Japan from Germany. The three were great friends and Sakura could tell that Alexander and Daisy had something between them. Despite that, Sakura could not help but fall in love with Alexander as well.

The third volume was what Alfred was complaining about. Sakura found out that Alexander and Daisy started going out. He wasn't sure how he wanted to express that, they were his very own feelings. The whole series was based on his high school life and he ended up making Sakura do the very thing he did, cry her eyes out the moment they were out of view.

In reality, Daisy and Alexander were boys named Feliciano and Ludwig, real people in this very school. And he, of course, was Sakura.

"Kiku!" The American suddenly said, snapping Kiku out of his thoughts. "Were you listening to me?" He demanded.

"H-Huh? O-Oh, I'm sorry, please repeat yourself?" He asked.

"Geez! Listen, will ya?" The American pouted. "Any ways, I was thinking, since you're Japanese, you must have some connection to this author! So set us up so I can talk some sense into her about this scene! I mean, really!"

"W-Wha? No! I can't do that!" Kiku said quickly, suddenly nervous and worried that Alfred might have figured out his secret.

"Come on~ You have to know lots of people in Japan..." Alfred mumbled, resting his chin on the table as he stared up at Kiku.

"N-No! I don't! I only lived there seven years of my life! How could I have met the author?"

"...I guess you have a point there." Alfred said with an exasperated sigh.

Kiku mentally let out a sigh of relief. "Is that all you have to ask about? Because I still have homework..."

"No, actually, its not."

Eh? Its not? Kiku nearly groaned out loud. He still had the rest of those pages to finish! The deadline was tomorrow! And he absolutely could not do them in front of Alfred since this next chapter was on the meeting between Sakura and...well, the very American before him.

"I need help with my math homework."

"...Can't you ask someone else?" Kiku said, willing the desperate sound away from his voice. "Like Yao, maybe? He's much better at math than I am." Yao was his roommate. This high school was pretty far away from where many of the students lived and provided dorms for them to stay in.

"No way. I'm not talking to him."

"Alfred...! Don't be like that! You can't just hate him because he became friends with Ivan!"

"I so can." Alfred retorted stubbornly. Great, Kiku just knew that he wasn't going to get any work done.

"Ok. Give me your books." Kiku asked, giving up.

Alfred perked up immediately. "Oh, thank you, Kiku!" He said, taking out a couple of notebooks from his bag. "I'll be back in an hour, ok?" He said, standing up and checking his cell phone for the time.

"Wait, what? I thought you wanted me to help you..."

"Yea, but I've got practice. So, um, just write down all the explanations for me? Right, thanks!" Alfred said and ran off before he gave Kiku a chance to say anything.

Kiku groaned. He wasn't going to get any work done today.

* * *

Kiku sat in the lunchroom, prodding his food listlessly, his head nodding up and down. He barely got any sleep last night. Yao was annoyed by the noise he was making, shuffling papers here and there that he told the other to go to the library to finished whatever he had to do. Kiku was upset at that, but he couldn't blame Yao who had put up with it until 1 AM in the morning. He was lucky that the library was opened for students 24/7.

"...Kiku?" Kiku quickly snapped his head up at the sound of his name.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!" He quickly said before making out two people in front of him. "Eh? Ludwig? Feliciano? ...What is it?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"We were wondering if you wanted to sit with us."

"Yea, you haven't done so in weeks... Ve, are you ok, Kiku? You look so tired?" Feliciano asked in a worried voice.

Kiku smiled. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm waiting for Alfred." He then looked over at Ludwig. He was able to get over the German quickly, in a couple of hours actually, thanks to the American.

"You sure hang out with him a lot these days, huh?" Ludwig said with a smile. "Alright, let's go, Feliciano."

"Ve? ...Alright then..." The Italian mumbled in disappointment before following Ludwig to another table.

Kiku watched the couple walk away. He wondered when Alfred would get here. He wasn't often late, his stomach can become his brain despite the fact that the cafeteria food often tasted like crap. The American manages to eat everything.

"Sorry I'm late, Kiku!" Alfred said, arriving and sitting down across from Kiku. "I was getting that new magazine for the new chapter!"

"Eh? I thought you said you like to wait for the tanboken to come out and buy that?"

"...Er, what's tanboken again?"

"Um, never mind." Kiku said with a shake of head, deciding not to pursue the fact any further. "So what do you think of the new chapter?"

"Nothing that I expected!" Alfred said excitedly. "I didn't think that the author would make a new character appear so late in the series!"

"Neither did I." Kiku agreed with a yawn.

"...Kiku? Is something the matter?"

"I'm just tired." Kiku admitted as he took a bite of his burger.

"That's not good! You need to maintain a good health."

"...I don't want to hear that from someone who eats at least 10 heart-attack-between-buns everyday." Kiku mumbled softly.

"Did you say something, Kiku?" Alfred asked, looking up from his magazine.

"...Just go back to reading the magazine, Alfred."

* * *

Three months ago, Kiku stood in front of Feliciano and Ludwig. They were holding hands. "Ve! Kiku, we're going out!" Feliciano said happily as he hugged Ludwig's arms. They didn't know, but at that moment, Kiku felt as if something broke inside.

"A-Ah, I see. That's nice to hear." Kiku said with a smile. He couldn't tell either of them that he's had a crush on Ludwig since the first week they met each other at the school.

"Right, we'll see you tomorrow, Kiku." Ludwig said with a smile and turned around with a wave. Neither of them had a clue of how Kiku felt.

Kiku watched them leave, the same smile still plastered on his face. It wasn't until they were long gone that he allowed himself to cry. He just stood there, letting the tears fall down. Sobs and hiccups escaping his throat as the tears dripped down to the floor.

"...bye, see you tomorrow!" Kiku ignored the voice and footsteps that were advancing from around the corner.

Alfred rounded the corner and saw someone standing in the middle of the hallway, trembling slightly with his head bowed down. He was about to walk past him when he heard the sobs and hiccups. "Hey! Hey! Are you alright?" He quickly asked, gently patting the boy.

"I-I'm fine." Kiku said in between hiccups.

"No! You're clearly not! Why are you crying?" Alfred asked as he led Kiku to a nearby bench. Sitting down, Kiku shook his head, refusing to tell Alfred. "You don't want to talk about it? But it'll make you feel better!" Not to mention he was the nosy type anyways. Kiku shook his head again and Alfred frowned. "...Fine then, do you want to lean on my shoulder to cry?" Before Kiku can shake his head, Alfred put an arm around Kiku and pulled him closer so that he could cry on him.

Only a long while later did Kiku stop crying.

"Feeling better now?" Alfred asked with a smile as Kiku's tears stopped and all that remained was the hiccups.

Kiku nodded. "...Thank you." He mumbled. "Why did you stay with me? I don't even know you." Well, not exactly true. He did know Alfred, but only through rumors. He was quite popular in the school.

"Um... Well..." Alfred cocked his head to the side as if thinking of a reason. "I guess I felt like it was the right thing to do." He said with a shrug. "And a hero always does the right thing!" Alfred said, striking a pose and Kiku couldn't help letting out a soft chuckle.

"Hey! You smiled!" Alfred said brightly.

"H-Huh?"

"Well, you've been crying so long, I haven't been able to see you smile."

"...A-Ah, I-I see..." Kiku stuttered as his face turned slightly pink. He quickly bit his lip to prevent himself from smiling.

"Hey! Don't stop smiling!" Alfred said with a pout. "Come on! Smile some more~!" He said, poking at the corners of Kiku's mouth, trying to get him to smile.

"S-Stop it. I don't feel like smiling." Kiku said, gently pushing Alfred's hands away.

Alfred frowned, crossed his arms and let out a determined growl. "Fine. By the end of this day, I'm determined to make you smile!" And without warning, he grabbed Kiku's arm and started racing down the hallway and out the school.

"W-Wait, where are you taking me?"

"Anywhere! Why stay stuffed in a building all day?"

Alfred had taken Kiku to many places that day, to the mall, a movie theater, the park... Kiku had smiled more times than he could remember, but it seemed that Alfred had forgotten his original objective. By the time they went back to the school, it was already night time.

"Ah! I had a good time today!" Alfred said, stretching his arms upward as they walked through the glass doors to the lobby.

Kiku nodded. "Me too." He said as they boarded the elevator.

"Oh, we're on the same floor." Alfred noted when they both stepped out of the elevator at the same floor. "Which side of the hallway...?" He pointed to the right and Kiku pointed to the left. "Aww...I knew it wouldn't be so lucky that we'd be next door neighbors, huh?" Alfred said with a pout.

"Its no worries, I'm not that far down the hall." Kiku said with a chuckle to the American's expression. "Thank you for having me today." He said politely with a bow.

"Eh? Oh, it was no big deal. I was bored today anyways. I was supposed to meet Mathew at... OH!" He suddenly exclaimed. "Shit! I was supposed to help Mattie with a project."

"W-What? I-I'm so sorry!" Kiku quickly apologize.

"No, no, its not your fault... I just hope he won't be too mad. ...I guess I should go find him now!" Alfred said as he took out his cell phone and started typing in a number. He waited impatiently for Mathew to pick up and when he did, he gave a quick excuse and the Canadian let out a sigh, knowing that he should've expected this.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow at school...Um..." Alfred paused for a moment to think. "...I just realized I haven't asked for you name the whole time..."

"...It's Kiku. Kiku Honda." Kiku said with a slightly pained sigh. How did he manage to forget to ask that...? Not that he remembered telling the other either.

"Right, sorry!" Alfred said, flashing an apologetic smile. "My name's Alfred F. Jones! Hero at your service!" He said before checking the time. "...Ah! I have to go and finish my homework!" He said and hurried down the hall. "See you tomorrow, Kiku!" He repeated.

Kiku waved goodbye quietly before going back to his own dorm. Yao was doing his homework. "Dinner's in the fridge. Just reheat it, aru."

Kiku nodded and went to retrieve the food. "So why are you so late today, aru?"

"...I met someone today." Kiku said with a small smile.

* * *

Notes...

Title is based on the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words"

Alfred's dislike for Yao and Ivan is just some history incorporated into the AU (Cold War)

* * *

**De-Anon from Kink Meme**

**Its not finished yet and idk how long it might end up being o.o;;**


	2. Chapter 2

"Wow! This guy's like..." Alfred paused midsentence to think of a word. He was only 10 minutes into the chapter and was probably around the part when 'John' was trying to cheer 'Sakura' up. "...Awesome!"

"Did someone say awesome?" A voice penetrated into their conversation before Kiku could respond and both their heads looked up in time to see Raivis bump into Gilbert who had stopped in front of their table.

"Oh, hey, Gilbert. What are you doing here...?" Kiku asked. He didn't talk with the German much. Only a few 'hello's when he visited Ludwig for a project once.

"I heard the word awesome."

"And its not directed to you." Alfred said with an air of superiority.

"Oh, I am so going to beat you next time we have a swim contest!" Gilbert declared.

"Haha, sure. Whenever you'd like." Alfred said with a smirk that said he wasn't worried at all and was certain he could beat him many times over.

"G-Gilbert? Can we please get to the table so M-Mr. Ivan won't g-g-get m-m-m-mad at u-us?" Raivis stuttered before the argument can continue any longer. His stuttering got extremely bad at the 'get mad' part that it was hard to hear what he was saying.

"Tch. I can care less of what he thinks." Gilbert said with a roll of eyes, but continued walking to his table.

"...Right, so I was saying." Alfred turned his attention back to Kiku. "This guy is pretty awesome with girls! He has to be my new hero!" That statement wasn't something he'd say normally since he considered himself a great hero.

Kiku raised an eyebrow at this.

"I mean! He totally knows how to treat girls and he's all chivalrous with Sakura..." Alfred continued to rant and Kiku did his best not to laugh at the fact that Alfred was admiring his own traits. He couldn't help to let a smirk show through. "What are you smirking about?" Alfred asked mid rant.

"N-Nothing..." But after Kiku had opened his mouth, he couldn't help snickering.

"You're definitely smirking about _something_! Tell me now!" Alfred said and frowned when Kiku shook his head 'no'. "Tell me now!" Alfred got up from his seat, walked behind Kiku and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Tell me or else~!"

"No. I'm not frightened of you, Alfred. You're not very sca-aaah!" Kiku nearly fell off his chair as Alfred started tickling him. "S-Stop! A-Alfred!"

"Then tell me!"

"Ok! Ok! ...You..." Kiku couldn't tell the truth. His editor would screw him over and he might end up loosing his friendship with Alfred or something. He was far too worried that three little words might mess everything up between them. "...You've got some ketchup on the side of your mouth."

"Whaaaat?" Alfred whined in dismay as he ran off to the bathroom. When he came back, he had a pout on his face. "Why didn't you tell me? I looked so stupid all the while..."

"I'm sorry." Kiku simply said. ...He wasn't really. It had been somewhat amusing to watch.

* * *

"Alfred, I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't take you that long to read one chapter in that magazine." Kiku said as he finished the last math problem for both his and Alfred's homework in the library. Alfred had been reading the same chapter all day. He was certain the American was not that slow of a reader.

He wasn't worried about deadlines today. Sure, he had to pace himself to at least finish a certain amount of pages each day, but Yao had told him he would be home late tonight (something about a date, he didn't press for details). He had lots of time to work on his manga in his dorm.

"Well, um, I've finished the whole thing a long while ago." Alfred muttered, eyes still glued to the magazine. He looked really intent on it. "...Its just that...This scene." He looked up and put the magazine down on the table so they would both be able to see. He was up to the point of where 'John' managed to make 'Sakura' smile and took her out on a date, an amusement park in his manga. "...I just can't help but to feel that...its so... familiar." Alfred said the sentence slowly and thoughtfully, dragging out the words at a few parts. It was odd for him to think so hard about something with his air headedness.

In his seat, Kiku froze and he started freaking out on the inside. On the outside, he appeared fine, just as he always was. _Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. I shouldn't have made it too obvious. Was it too obvious? I didn't think it was that obvious... My editor didn't say anything. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. If he figures this out, this'll be so embarrassing! Alfred will probably find me strange for doing something like this and stop being friends with me!_

"Oh yea, I think I know now!"

Kiku nearly fainted right there in his seat.

"That new drama that came out!"

...What?

"There was a scene kind of like this! A guy cheered up a girl by taking her out on a date!" Alfred said enthusiastically.

Kiku's fear quickly melted into anger. Was he calling his stuff unoriginal?

"Why are you glaring at me like that, Kiku?"

"No reason." He answered coldly. _Stupid, oblivious idiot._ Kiku thought as Alfred stared at him dumbly. "Here, I'm done with everything." He said as he passed the notebook back to the American. He packed up all of his stuff and started walking to the exit.

"Wait, Kiku! Wait!" Alfred yelled, following the Japanese boy out the door and down the hall. "Kiku! What are you so mad about?"

"I'm not mad. Why would you think I'm mad? I just want to hurry back to my dorm."

For anyone else, there was no way of telling when Kiku was mad. There was no change in his tone or facial expressions. "I can tell, Kiku." Alfred stated with a frown. Kiku raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "I don't know!" Alfred said with a dramatic wave of arms. "I just...know it, ok? I just do!"

"Alfred, please, that doesn't even-"

"Uh, Alfred?" The two looked up at who interrupted them.

"Er, yes, Ludwig? What, do you need some help with money or something again?" Alfred asked with a bright smile again. _...He can be too bipolar sometimes._ Kiku thought with a bit of annoyance that he didn't dare let show on his face.

"Have you talked with Bruder recently?" Ludwig asked with a somewhat suspicious tone.

"Er..."

"Yes, he did." Kiku answered for him, knowing the American had a rather short term memory with anything that did not have to do with McDonalds. "At lunch today."

"Oh." Ludwig simply answered. "Well, uh, he said he wanted to see you. Er, both of you. Outside the school."

* * *

Kiku didn't understand why Gilbert would want to see the two of them. Or either of them for that case. He was lost in thoughts of situations as he followed Alfred out of the school.

Gilbert was waiting by the gate. He appeared to be yelling at Antonio who was texting in his sidekick.

"What is it, Gilbert?" Alfred asked with an annoyed voice. " I don't really want to talk to anyone who sits with Ivan at lunch!"

Gilbert turned around, eyes flaring with anger and for a moment, Kiku was afraid a fight would break out. "The only reason I had to sit there was because of..." The rest was lost in some annoyed grumbling. The only words Kiku managed to make out were 'stupid teacher', 'picking partners for us', and 'owed money'. "Whatever. I didn't sit there of my own will. I mean, who'd want to watch that bear share lovey-dovey looks with Wang?" Gilbert said and rolled his eyes in disgust. It was so hard for Kiku not to run back to his dorm and draw a comic with this new piece of gossip.

"Ah, ok. If you're bad-mouthing him then I can assume you're not one of his lackeys." Alfred said with a shrug. "So why'd you call me here for again?"

"Porque Gilbert es un perdedor." Spain said with a smirk. Kiku and Gilbert gave him a questioning look while Alfred cracked up. Having lived near a Mexican for a while, he knew more than just a couple of Spanish insults.

"I see what this is about. So, Gilbert, you're ready for me to kick your ass at this again?"

Gilbert glared at Antonio. "...What did you just say to him?" He asked with a somewhat venomous tone.

"Nothing." Spain answered with his usual sunny, bright smile. "Just what you had planned to say all along."

"Well, if that's the case, I'll start speaking German in front of other people next time!"

"Oh, Romano wants me to meet him in the lunchroom. See you, Gil. Good luck on your competition!"

"Hey! Don't ignore me!"

"Um, ahem?" Alfred cleared his throat to get Gibert's attention again. "So, ok, I have some time tomorrow, I'll whup your ass then. 'Kay? Alright, let's go, Kiku."

"What? No, there's something else and more importantly, I'll win!" Gilbert said as Alfred was about to push Kiku back into the building. "Why don't we make a prize of sorts?"

"Prize?" Alfred asked, turning his attention back to Gilbert.

"If you win, I'll buy you McDonald's every day." Kiku didn't have to look to know that Alfred had an idiotic grin on his face at that suggestion.

"I'm totally going to win, but what'll happen if I lose?"

"Oh, nothing big. Give me Kiku."

Kiku couldn't remain silent this time. "What?"

* * *

The elevator opened with a 'ding' at their floor. "Kiku~!" Alfred whined. "Don't be mad!"

"No, I'm absolutely not mad at all at the fact that you're willing to trade our friendship over a couple of burgers."

"...You're not?"

"No, of course not. I'm furious." Kiku said as he stepped into his room and slammed the door. _I am never speaking to him again!_ He thought to himself as he took off his jacket.

"Kiku... I'm sorry." Alfred said through the door. "I only made the bet because I thought I would win..."

_I will not open the door. I will not speak to him._

"Please forgive me?"

Alfred heard the lock unclick from the inside and beamed with a smile when Kiku opened the door a crack.

_...Stupid, oblivious fool..._ Kiku thought. He didn't like going back on his word, but he couldn't stay mad at Alfred. The tone of voice he used really made him feel guilty too. "I forgive you." Kiku stated.

"Yay! I love you Kiku!" Alfred said loudly and hugged Kiku tightly.

Kiku was so focused on keeping his balance that it took him a moment to realize what Alfred said. "W-Wait? Alfred? Y-You mean that...?"

"Of course! You're like my best friend!"

Kiku didn't think he could get mad at the same person so many times in a day.

* * *

"You're reading the newspaper, Bruder?" Ludwig asked when he saw his brother in the living room with the paper in his hands. He expected the albino to have been playing some sort of electronical toy instead.

"Was? Awesome can't read newspaper?" Gilbert asked with a tinge of annoyance.

"Er...No, just that..." Ludwig wondered how to finish the sentence. _Its unnatural? Should I bring you to the hospital that you'd rather read the 'boring' newspaper instead of playing exciting games?_ "...Are you looking for a job?" He said, noting that his brother was reading the classified section.

"Was? Awesome can't look for a job?"

Ludwig rolled his eyes. It was pretty clear that his brother didn't want to talk with him. "If you want money, just call dad. I'm sure he'll send some over if its reasonable."

"...Ah, its not something I can ask dad for." Gilbert mumbled as he flipped the page.

"...Why's that?"

"Well, it has to do with school, er...beating up this kid, grades, and uh, in other words, a huge debt."

"What? Just what happened?"

Gilbert looked up from the paper for the first time. "Look, don't worry, bro! I got this! I mean, my first stage of the plan is already in action!"

"...Plan? Do I want to know what you planned?"

"No."

* * *

Porque Gilbert es un perdedor - Because Gilbert is a looser

Was - What?

* * *

**De-anon from Kink Meme.**


	3. Chapter 3

"I can see why you're so frustrated, Kiku, aru." Yao told him over the phone. "Jones can't read the atmosphere for his life, aru." A slight pause. "Why are you calling me about this again, Kiku, aru?"

Kiku paused in the inking and looked over at the cell phone. He had put it on speaker. After he had politely kicked Alfred out of the room, he felt the need to rant. So he had called Yao and interrupted his date. "I needed to take my frustrations out on someone." Kiku said with a sigh.

"...And you called me to talk about your love life, aru? How do you know I'm not going to tell everyone around the school, aru?"

Kiku resumed in the drawing with his pen. "Two reasons. One, I've got some blackmail on you."

The sound of food being spit out over the phone. "What? You do?"

"Yea, I think I know who your date is. Ivan, isn't it?"

"Wha-? No! Its not, aru!"

"Sure, deny it if you will."

"I'm not denying it! You've really got it wrong!" For the next minute, Yao continued to deny any relation with Ivan before Kiku just gave in and said "I believe you" although he really didn't. "...So what might the second reason be, aru?"

"Huh? Oh, um..." Kiku couldn't help feeling just a bit embarrassed. "You're kind of like an older brother to me, you know? I figure I could trust someone like you."

"Eh...? Oh..." Kiku could hear that Yao felt uncomfortable with the statement on the other side of the phone as well. "It makes me happy that you think of me as someone you can trust."

* * *

Kiku heard Yao open the door to their dorm and tried to shuffle all his work away. But there were too many all scattered everywhere. Out of frustration and desperation, Kiku ended up covering them with his arms and pretending to have fallen asleep on top of his work.

"Kiku? The light's still on, are you awake?" He heard Yao open the door and tsk at his (pretend) sleeping form. "Aiya! Learn to sleep in another position! You'll get back pain and a cold!" He exclaimed in a whisper to avoid waking him up. Yao turned off his lamp before leaving the room.

Kiku sat up. Great. Yao would definitely notice if he started working with the light on again. He sighed. He would finish tomorrow after school. _...Oh. I have to go to Alfred's swimming competition tomorrow..._ Kiku thought with a groan. And for both their sakes, he hoped Alfred would win.

Kiku looked at his work and frowned. He was currently drawing Sakura's desperation at getting John's attention.

* * *

"Er, Alfred, is there anyone you like?" Kiku had asked after spending a week together.

"Like?"

"Um, someone you think specially of!" He quickly changed the wording.

"Er...I guess...Arthur maybe?"

Kiku nearly dropped the stuff he was carrying for the teacher to the next classroom. _That's the guy in my homeroom...? He likes that type of person? The class-president type?_ He thought. Since he's met Arthur, he had categorized him as the 'tsudere-class-prez'. There was no way he could act that tsudere! Class president maybe, but he really didn't think he would pull off being mean on the outside. Or inside for that matter.

"Oh, no. Never mind. He was a good playmate when we were younger, but he's far too stuck up now." America mumbled. "No common interests. Plus there are those scones..."

"...Then who do you think specially of?" Kiku really hoped he'd get a helpful answer this time.

"...Ah, no one right now, I guess." America said with a sigh and then caught sight of Kiku's shoulders sagging. "...Why are you asking about this again?"

"H-Huh? I...Uh..."

"Could it be that..."

Kiku didn't think America would read the reasoning behind that and he wasn't prepared at all for a situation like this. "I...Well-"

"I get it! You're doing a survey about the type of girls guys like, am I right?" Alfred said cheerfully and Kiku stared in shock, not sure whether to be relief or worry that the danger isn't over yet. "Well, I like people who share similar interests with me!"

"...Yes, of course..." That really helped.

* * *

Kiku kind of felt bad for making Sakura suffer through the same ordeal. He started capping all his pens and putting the papers into piles, some into his school bag, before getting up and crawling into bed. Looking at the clock, he realized this would be the first time in a long while where he'd get more than 2 hours of sleep.

Sleeping early helped. Kiku managed to get up and finish the last bits of the pages. "Good. I can just drop it in the mailbox." He said before hurrying out the door and to his editor's place.

* * *

"Woah, what's with this guy!" Alfred yelled and Kiku looked up from his lunch, wondering what was getting Alfred so worked up.

"What is it?"

"Grr... This guy, John! Sakura's making lunch for him, going out of her way to talk with him and he doesn't notice a thing?" Alfred said, looking completely irritated. "I mean, its so obvious! If it was me, I would've noticed she had a thing for me already!"

Kiku mentally sighed. _I'm glad you noticed my efforts three months late._ The chapter Alfred was reading was the one before the one he had finished in the morning. He wondered how he would react to that scene. "Hey, Alfred, aren't you worried at all about today's competition?" He asked, deciding to change the subject.

"No, why would I? I beat him before, I'll do it again." The American answered smugly as he stuffed another burger in his mouth.

"Are you sure, I heard he's been practicing a lot." Kiku asked skeptically.

"Of course, what are you so worried about?"

"The fact that I might have to spend the rest of my high school years with him."

* * *

Kiku stood near the edge of the pool in the middle of a crowd of girls going wild at the prospect of seeing Alfred shirtless and in a pair of swim trunks. Some guys came to make fun of Gilbert. There was also a smaller group of girls there to watch Gilbert. Apparently, he and his two friends had made some sort of name in the school and they became somewhat popular. But from their conversations, they didn't really expect him to win either.

"Dammit, Bruder really knows how to cause trouble..." Ludwig mumbled with a groan from next to Kiku. "I'm sorry, Kiku. If I had known what he was thinking, I would've done something about this."

"No, its alright. I don't think anything would've changed Alfred's mind either." Ludwig nodded in agreement.

"Well, I don't think you really have to worry about spending time with Bruder."

"The crowd seems to agree too."

"Ve~! Go Gilbert!"

"...Except for your boyfriend."

* * *

"This will be the last time I'm doing this, alright?" Alfred told Gilbert as he stretched by the edge of the pool. "I'm not doing this again!"

"Right, right." Gilbert said with a nod. He knew he could easily bribe the guy again with a couple of burgers. Well, maybe not, he was already in money trouble and Alfred's McDonalds tab would make it worse.

With the stretching done, the referee sat at his seat above the pool. "Ready, on your mark, get set, go!"

There was a huge splash, some shrieking girls and the two were off.

* * *

No one could deny that Alfred was fast. He's won nearly all the swim competitions he was in. (Minus one from Ivan which had resulted in a bad sulk for a whole week.) No one (apart from maybe Italy) expected that Gilbert would be the one to win this time. The whole crowd went silent, waiting for Alfred's response to this.

"Re...Rematch!"

Gilbert just smirked back. "Let me quote you on this. 'This will be the last time I'm doing this, alright'. And I believe there's another saying you say a lot, 'A hero doesn't go back on his word'! I didn't mistake anything, right?"

Alfred looked too stunned to make a comeback and Gilbert took advantage of this moment to pull Kiku out of the crowd and out of the pool room.

"Wait, Bruder!" Ludwig called, looking indecisive of what to do. "Ah...Alfred? I'm sorry for my brother's..." Italy let out a sharp cry at the look on Alfred's face and hid behind Ludwig.

"Your brother better watch out. I'm going to take Kiku back. Whatever it may take."

* * *

Kiku was doing his best to wrench himself free of Gilbert's grip as he was dragged into the locker rooms. "Let go of me!" Kiku said in a slightly ordering tone.

Gilbert did as he said as he walked over to a locker, opened it and took out a towel to start drying his hair with. "They say you don't get angry much. But you're really angry right now, aren't you?"

Kiku didn't say a word and only glared at the back of the German's head.

"Do you really like Jones that much?"

Kiku let out a gasp and averted his eyes as a blush crept up his cheeks. His anger quickly melted into embarrassment. "I...I... That..."

"Yea, I figured as much!" Gilbert said with a laugh before Kiku finished. "I didn't really mean to upset you or Alfred, really." He finished changing and picked up his schoolbag. "I just needed some help from you!"

"What makes you think I would help you?" Kiku said, narrowing his eyes.

"How about a trade?" Gilbert asked with a sly smirk. "I'll help you win Alfred over." His smirk grew a little wider as Kiku blushed again. He couldn't help but think that he looked rather adorable and vulnerable like that. _I shouldn't mention that Alfred probably already likes him, but just too dim-witted to realize it._ But he wouldn't say that to Kiku. Kiku wasn't dumb, he would've said no to the deal if he knew that Alfred does like him back.

"Depends on what you want." Kiku stated with a straight face, deciding to play it safe.

"Gut. I need you to help me draw some stuff."

Kiku's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Well here was something he didn't expect.

* * *

"Alfred." The Englishman put his cup of tea down on the table as he watched the American sulk in front of him. "I don't mind you sitting here, but really. You dragged yourself into this mess, you should've thought of the consequences."

"I miss Kikuuuuu~" Alfred whined.

"Did you hear a word I just said, you git?" Arthur yelled at him. "Why don't you go and just ask for him back?"

"I don't think Gilbert would just say 'Yea, here you go! I don't need him around anyways!' after having an entire match with him." Matthew said softly from next to Alfred.

"Well you'd never know, would you...er..." Arthur searched his head for what the boy's name was. "Er..."

"Matthew." The boy said with a sigh. And when Arthur still looked confused, he added, "You know, Alfred's brother?"

Arthur seemed to get it this time and snapped his head up to give the Canadian an apologetic smile. "R-Right! Sorry, I just blanked out for a moment. What you said made perfect sense!"

"...'Course it did."

"Can you guys be quiet?" Alfred said in annoyance. He hadn't heard a word of the two's suggestion and was reading the latest installment to Kiku's manga with an irritated look on his face.

"H-Hey! What the bloody hell? You were the one moaning and groaning before! We were only trying to help!" Arthur exclaimed.

"Shh. I'm reading."

"You git! Listen to me!" Arthur yelled, getting the attention of most of the people in the lunchroom, but he didn't seem to care. "And just what is so special about this magazine!" He grabbed the magazine out of Alfred's hands and started flipping through it.

"Aaah! No! Arthur! Give that back!" Matthew warned, but of course, his voice wasn't loud enough to be heard. He was too late anyways.

"Arthur... Give. That. Back." Alfred said in a dark tone. "Now."

"What? This just looks like a normal comic book-" Alfred snatched the book out of Arthur's hand before he finished his sentence. He gave him one last glare before leaving the table.

"W-What? What just happened to him?"

Matthew sighed. He had tried to warn him, had he not? "...Alfred really loves that magazine. Kiku introduced him to it and he got hooked."

Arthur went silent for a moment as he realized why Alfred was so angry. "Wait. He likes the magazine or...?"

Matthew sighed again. He was suddenly glad he used to spend more time with Francis.

* * *

"Draw pictures for you to sell?" Kiku asked as if to confirm what Gilbert had said. Gilbert drank a lot of beer along with his lunch, unlike Alfred. Kiku did miss Alfred and regretted having struck this deal with Gilbert. He'd rather be spending time with the American. Gilbert was not a bad person. Gilbert and Alfred were similar in some qualities. They were both loud, annoying, and think they're awesome. ...Maybe more on Gilbert's part.

He just liked Alfred more because for one thing, he spent more time with the American. He only knew Gilbert because he was the guy free loading off his brother when they went to visit Ludwig.

"Yea...You see... It kinda happened like this. My teacher assigned a group project for me and Ivan. ...And then he went ahead and bought the most expensive materials and now he demands I pay for it. ...With interest too."

Kiku couldn't help looking a little shocked at this. "Couldn't you have just said no? Or tell the teacher?"

"Ah... Well you see, not too long ago... I punched him in the face."

Blackmail. He should've seen that coming. "You could get a job instead of asking me to do this!"

"I tried. They kicked me out every interview I was in."

Kiku mentally agreed with the store owners. Gilbert wasn't exactly someone he'd hire either."Ok then. One picture for each tip you give me."

"What? I haven't got that many tips!"

"...Five for one?"

"...I probably still wouldn't have enough."

"Just how much do you owe him anyways." Gilbert glanced around before whispering the amount to Kiku. "What? Where did he get that amount of money to begin with? And what did he buy, gold?"

Gilbert gave him a shrug. "Don't stress the minor details.

* * *

Alfred watched the two interact from a short distance away. He had a pouty look on as his brother tried to cheer him up. "Come on, Al! They're just talking. There's absolutely nothing going on between them, eh?"

Alfred didn't say anything and just sucked on the straw loudly. _Sluuuuuuurp._

"Al! Are you listening?" Half of the Canadian just wanted to be heard and the other half was starting to feel annoyed that Alfred didn't even appreciate that he was helping.

"Do you think there's any way to win Kiku back?"

"You mean like to woo him...?"

"No. Like Gilbert did."

"...Not unless you can get Gilbert to agree to a competition. And it has to be other than swimming too." Canada added when he remembered what the German said at the end of the competition.

"..." Alfred was silent for a moment and Matthew assumed he was thinking hard about this. "Oh well! I'll figure something out later!" Matthew nearly gaped out loud at that statement. Alfred took out his magazine and started reading from it again.

"Again? Just what is so special about that magazine?" Matthew repeated what Arthur had said.

"Its really great! You should read it sometime!" Alfred suggested. "Its about this girl who- Actually, I have the first few books in my dorm! You should come over and read it for yourself!"

"I...I..." Matthew was at a lost for words. "Yea, I'll come over sometime..." He muttered, feeling completely depressed. "So...um... why don't you tell me a summary of it, eh?"

"A summary? Ok!" Alfred said excitedly. "Its about this girl who is new to this school and then she makes these two new friends- Oh and she's a really shy girl by the way- so she makes these two new friends. One of them, a girl named Daisy, becomes her best friend. And the other- Alexander- She falls in love with him! But you know what? Alexander ends up falling in love with Daisy! I'm still kind of mad at the author for writing that! I mean, who'd turn down a girl as great and awesome as Sakura? So anyways, after she found out the two were dating, she ends up crying and this new guy- John- He comes and comforts her! Like a real hero! He has to be my favorite character in the story! So now she's fallen in love with him! ...And that would bring us to today's issue!"

Matthew wondered if he even needed to go over to Alfred's house anymore to read the story.

"I'm not done yet, but here's what happens! So like, this guy appears. I can totally tell that he's the villain!"

The Canadian suddenly had to look Alfred over to make sure he wasn't talking to Feliks for a moment.

"I mean, he's not like one of those ugly people in Disney- I don't care, I still think Disney is awesome. Cartoons and all- he's kind of good looking. But he's like a gangster, hangs with the wrong crowd- totally the wrong crowd if John saw him talking with the Russian guy- and guess what? He's interested in Sakura!" Alfred paused as if waiting for Matthew's reaction.

"Er... Great story! I can see why so many people like it, eh." No. He didn't have a clue at all. He barely heard all of Alfred's fast talking.

"Yes! I knew you'd understand me better than that British guy!"

Matthew kept up his smile and just let Alfred continue to talk.

"But you know what's weird? Every once in a while, it feels like I've seen these events in the book happen before?" Alfred said in a quiet voice this time and that's what made Matthew interested in what he was saying. "Like a sense of déjà vu throughout the series." Alfred was silent for a moment and Matthew realized it must be really serious if Alfred went quiet. "...You don't think that there's actually a ghost somewhere recording the events in my life and giving it to the author, do you?" Alfred said fearfully.

Matthew knew it was too hard to hope for Alfred to be able to read the atmosphere and say something smart instead. "No. I'm sure they're not haunting you."

"T-Then, how would-"

"I don't know." Matthew said with a shrug. "Its probably a coincidence. It happens, eh."

They were both silent with serious faces before Alfred said, "Anyways. Back to the topic."

Huh? Wait, didn't he explain the whole story already?

"How can I spend time with Kiku again?"

Matthew wondered how he ever managed to deal with Alfred's mood swings. Thinking back to what Alfred said a few moments ago, he got an idea. "Why don't you invite him to your dorm for to watch some horror movies? You always used to do that."

Alfred's eyes lit up. "You're right! I'll go do that right now!" He said before getting up and running over to the table Kiku and Gilbert were sitting at.

"Wait! Don't ask him now-" He was too late. Oh well. It didn't really matter when he asked Kiku. Gilbert seemed to plan to hang around him 24/7. Or at least the whole school day.

* * *

**De-anon from Kink Meme.**

**Sorry this took so long... I needed a few days to get my brain reorinated with day and night. Dx**


	4. Chapter 4

"NO!" Gilbert yelled. "Kiku is hanging out with me tonight!"

"You hang out with him all day! At least let me hang out with him at night!" Alfred yelled back. Kiku stared uncertainly at the two young men arguing in front of his dorm doorway. What's worse is that Yao is standing in front of him and looking none the happier at the situation.

"You two, aru." Yao said in a threatening voice. "Have argued well in to the night already, aru. I can't sleep, I've got a test tomorrow, and neither of you are going out with Kiku tonight, aru!" He yelled before kicking both boys out the dorm and slamming the door in their faces.

"Y-Y-Yao-san?" Kiku stuttered nervously as he heard both boys have a rough landing from Yao's Xiaolin skills.

"They're loud and a nuisance, aru." Yao said with a disgusted look. "Any longer and they would wake up the whole dormitory, aru."

Well, Kiku couldn't argue with that, but he couldn't help feeling sorry for the two boys being kicked out too. "And if you'll excuse me, I've got a test first period tomorrow, aru. Good night, I'm going to bed, aru." China said before walking into his room and gently closing the door.

Kiku sighed and stayed still, listening to see if Gilbert and Alfred were still outside. He didn't hear anything and assumed that they had left. _They probably won't come back for the night. _He thought for reassurance and shut off all the lights before climbing into bed.

* * *

Outside the two's dorm, the two boys were still there. The reason that Kiku had not heard them was because the two were in an intense glare war. "Hah, you blinked! I win!" "I did not!" "You did!"

The volume of their voices were increasing and pretty soon, the two of them realize that if they continued the whole dormitory will wake up and they would get kicked out for making a disturbance.

"You lost the bet, Alfred. Why don't you get lost and leave Kiku with me?" Gilbert growled.

"Because, you clearly have ulterior motives and I'm not about to let you hurt my best friend!" Alfred growled back.

"Some best friend if you actually bet on your friendship." He retorted.

Alfred's eyes widened and reached over to tackle him and punch him in the face. Gilbert, not about to back out of a fight, kneed Alfred in the stomach and their tussle continued over across the dormitory. They did their best not to make any noise since if they were caught fighting, they would not only get kicked out, but probably expelled.

After a long fight that made them go from one end of the hallway to the other, both of them sat facing each other, leaning against the wall, panting. It was a while before Alfred spoke up. "If you dare hurt Kiku in any way, shape, or form, you'll be sorry."

"I'm not even the one hurting him." Gilbert spat. Alfred glare at him, but his face gave off a confused expression. Seeing that Alfred clearly did not understand the meaning of that phrase, he added, "Mein Gott. You're a dumb one."

Alfred continue to glare. "Look, I do not have the fucking energy to explain it to you so you're lucky you got off tonight with a couple of punches." He muttered as he got up, using the wall to help him stand. Alfred heard the ding of an elevator and a flash of light lighting up the hallway before he let out a breath. It had been a bit hard to keep that glare up and he was glad when Gilbert decided to finally leave.

He stood up in a similar manner as Gilbert and muttered to himself, "Note to self, call for back up when fighting him." Because heros aren't afraid of fighting. Because heros won't lose. And because heros need sidekicks.

* * *

Matthew packed away the first aid kit and placed it back in the cabinet. He let out a slow sigh. "...Alfred didn't used to be like this." He mumbled. "He didn't fight so much when we were younger..." The bear looked up at him with a questioning expression. "Who?" "Matthew!"

Picking up his bear, Matthew brought him back to his room and placed the bear on a makeshift bed in the corner of the room. "Good night, Kumayoshi." He said before turning off the lights and crawling into his own bed. He was a bit worried for Alfred. After he had bandaged up his brother, he had stormed out mumbling something about sidekicks and movies. He could easily tell that his advice from earlier didn't go well.

* * *

Kiku was still feeling bad about not keeping his word with Gilbert and not hanging out with Alfred. _...I'll start helping Gilbert tomorrow! ...And I'll work fast so I'll find time to hang out with Alfred!_ He thought with a determined look.

Just when he had an ease of mind and was ready for sleep, he heard a strange raking sound outside his window. Kiku frowned and turned towards the window, seeing nothing, he closed his eyes again only to hear that noise again.

Feeling annoyed, Kiku stood up and walked to the window, prepared to scare away whatever bird that might be bothering him. When he opened the window, he made a shocked noise that would have been a scream had a hand not covered his mouth. Alfred was hanging off a branch with a silly grin on his face as he covered Kiku's mouth. When it looked like Kiku had calmed down, he removed his hand and climbed into his room.

"A-Alfred?" Kiku stuttered. He looked down his window. They were on the third floor!

"Wasn't I cool?" Alfred exclaimed excitedly. "I wasn't sure I could do it since I was on the heavy side of the scale when I measured tonight..." His voice trailed off as Kiku placed a finger on Alfred's lips. "...?"

"Middle of the night. People sleeping." Kiku said quickly before going to turn on the lamp at his desk. Seeing that his desk was covered in manga pages, he quickly turned it off again. "On second thought, turning on lights would be suspicious." He said before Alfred could say anything. "So why are you here?"

"Well, I wanted to try being the hero and climb up the tree and-"

"You didn't have to pick this tree!"

"It was the only one by the building." There was an awkward silence before Alfred spoke up again. "Since I'm here, why don't we do something together?"

"...Like what?" It was in the middle of the night, way after lights out so they couldn't go outside the dorm building. Heck, they probably can't even leave that very room without waking Yao.

"Oh...well..." Alfred glanced around. "Hey! You got a TV here! How lucky!"

"No! Wait! Don't-"

Kiku was too late. The TV screen flickered on and display an image of questionable activities. "...Kiku? Why do you have por-"

"It was research for a school project!" Kiku nearly forgot to keep his voice down and hurried to switch the TV off.

"School project that requires you to watch po-"

"Health class!"

"Oh, that makes sense."

Kiku was very glad for two things. Alfred bought that and the room was too dark for either one of them to see how flushed he was. "You know what? ...How 'bout you just go back to your room?" Kiku said calmly.

"Whaaaaaaaat? But it took so much effort to get here!"

Kiku grimaced. It seemed like Alfred was here to stay. Not that he minded too much. He was just worried that he would be breaking a few school rules. ...Actually, he was already breaking a few school rules. Kiku was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Alfred poking around his TV until Alfred stood up with a satisfied expression.

"There! Now we can watch that movie I rented!"

"何ですか?" Kiku mumbled as Alfred jumped on his bed and patted next to him. "Come join me!"

"Wait, what are we watching?" Kiku asked as he cautiously sat next to Alfred. He was glad that Alfred had thought of keeping the volume low. Past expierences had told him that the American liked things loud.

* * *

Kiku could tell that Alfred was about to let out another scream and he quickly grabbed his pillow and stuffed it into his mouth. Alfred's scream was luckily muffled enough to only be heard between the two of them. "Alfred, if its too much, we don't have to watch..."

"N-N-No! H-Hero's aren't afraid of nothing!" Blood splattered across the screen as another person in the movie got killed. "Ah-mmmmmm"

"You might want to keep the pillow there." Kiku advised.

Alfred trembled as the credits played and Kiku patted him on the back soothingly to hopefully calm him. "Alfred? Are you going to be ok walking back to your room?" The American shook his head fearfully.

"Um..."

"P-Please, Kiku! You have to let me stay here! Please! I don't mind sleeping on the floor! I just don't want that vampire to catch me!"

"Alfred! There's no such thing as vampires-!" Kiku let out a shocked noise as Alfred latched himself to the Japanese boy's arm with a whimpering noise.

"I-I just saw something outside the window!"

"That would be the tree."

"I-I can't climb the roof! The vampire will catch me! Please, let me stay here tonight!"

Kiku thought for a moment before deciding. "...Alright. But you have to leave by morning." Two reasons for that. They would get expelled if he stayed and Alfred would see his drawings.

Alfred quickly nodded an agreement and got out of the bed to sleep on the floor. "W-Wait! Alfred, you don't have to sleep on the floor... You can sleep u-up here." A blush crept up Kiku's face as a situation he had never even considered the whole night arose. Actually, he should have realize this would be the usual manga cliché. The blush deepened as he realized that what this sort of situation led to.

"Kiku? Are you ok?" Alfred was not sitting on the bed again and looking at him with his face close.

"Y-Yes! I'm fine!" Kiku moved backwards in surprise and nearly fell off the bed. "A-A-Anyways, we should g-go to s-s-sleep. S-School t-tomorrow." He said in a hurry as he crawled under the covers.

"Ok!"

* * *

"Kiku? Are you still awake?"

"Yes."

"That's good~ Keep me safe from the vampires, alright?"

"Sure. No problem." Right, Kiku should have expected nothing would happen with America.

* * *

Kiku blinked and opened his eyes to see the sun high in the sky and sending rays of sunlight into his room. Kiku sat up and stretched. Mid-yawn, he paused. _Wait. Sun high in the sky...?_ He immediately reached out for his alarm clock. "9 AM?" He's already missed first period! And how on earth did he forget to set his alarm?

Jumping out of bed, he shivered as the air felt cold against his bare skin. Kiku furrowed his eyebrows and looked at himself. _Why am I naked...?_ He wondered as he walked over to the closet to get his clothes.

"Mnn... Kiku, thanks for protecting me from the vampires..." Alfred said as he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes.

Kiku stared at a naked Alfred with wide eyes before letting out a blood curling scream that could be heard by Yao from his classroom.

The Chinese boy was taking his exam as he and the rest of the class heard a yell. Glancing out the window, he didn't even have to guess to know that it came from the dorm room, particularly from his and Kiku's dorm. "Hmph. Serves them right for keeping me up all night." He mumbled as he looked back down at his test. Sure enough, he had dark rings around his eyes from tossing and turning at each moan of a monster from Kiku's TV.

* * *

"You! Me! Bed! Naked! What? Us! Happened?" Kiku spoke in shrill fragments of sentences.

Alfred blinked and looked around the room. Articles of clothing was strew around the floor, which matched what the both of them had been wearing the night before. "Hold up, let me put on my glasses..." Alfred said as he reached for them on the dresser. "Woah? What happened here? It looks like someone had crazy sex that started with ripping the clothes off of each other."

Kiku gave him a stare.

"Oh, hey, why're you naked, Kiku?" Alfred asked with a smile.

"... Alfred. This isn't math, I think you can figure this out."

Alfred frowned and made a face that looked as if he was thinking hard. "... Oh! You burried something in your closet/underwear drawer and now you can't find it after throwing all the clothes out!" He said, looking proud of himself.

"W-What?" How could Alfred come to that conclusion and not think of the obvious. Or...was it just him who was thinking of that? Maybe he should cut back from reading all that rated-18 material. _No! Its for studying!_ He thought to himself, trying to steel his resolve. _So I draw better doujinshis! Doujinshi making is my side past time after all!_ "You know you're naked too, right?"

Alfred looked a little confused at the revelation and then he slipped out of bed to look at himself. "...Hey! You're right!"

Kiku made a shrieking sound and blushed deep before hiding under his desk. "Alfred...Just put your clothes on. Please."

"Why? We're both guys! Its absolutely fine!"

"... ..." Kiku stayed under the desk as his face turned darker red than ever before.

* * *

"Ok, my clothes are on, Kiku. Can you please come out now?" Alfred asked delicately.

"L...oom."

"Um, Kiku, I can't hear you if you're going to muffle yourself by hugging your knees."

"I said leave the room!" Kiku yelled out this time. "I need to put on my clothes too!"

Alfred took a step back and gave him a smile and a shrug. "Ok man, I get it! I'll wait for you outside and we can walk to class together!" Alfred said as he closed the door behind him.

"Class!" He was already what, a whole period late? He quickly dashed around the room, putting on whichever piece of clothing he came across while gathering papers and art supplies to put into his book bag.

"Ok, I'm ready Alfred!" Kiku said as he exited his own room.

"Kiku! I just thought of something!" Alfred said excitedly. "...We didn't have wild sex last night and forget everything like one of those, uh, I've just gotten close to the right age of reading it manga, right?"

Kiku paled as he remembered the embarrassing moment, he had forgotten after running around gathering all his school things. "W-Well, do you remember anything?"

"Hmm...Nope! Nothing after the horror movie! ...Maybe we had wild sex and then we just forgot all about it? Were there any beer cans in the room? Maybe we had unsafe BDSM?"

At the last question, Kiku's face flushed again and he ran out of the room, leaving Alfred by himself. "Uh...Did my joke go too far?"

* * *

Gilbert dropped the hot dog he was eating. "Uh, you guys woke up naked and you're still coming to me for advice?"

Kiku nodded. "I-I don't remember anything happening, though!" Kiku was shaking as he drew. He had finished a bit and Gilbert had even sold some to make some money. Not a surprise, his artwork was popular since it matched the manga-style of a popular manga artist, which in reality was him.

Gilbert shrugged. "Eh. It happens. Drink some beir and you'd wake up in the morning not knowing where you are and then there's someone next to you in bed and you don't know who he/she even is."

"...I didn't need to know about your adventures in drunken land, Gilbert." Kiku mumbled as he tried to drain the images from his mind. "I'm about to ask the school janitor for bleach."

"Kesesesese!" Gilbert laughed. "You need bleach? For knowing something like that? What about all those pictures you drew that were especially for girls! Like Eliza, didn't she like, buy ten of those?"

Kiku's face turned red as he tried to change the subject. "S-So, Gilbert, why do you have so many scrapes on your arms?"

"I got into a fight." He mumbled unhappily as he looked away, clearly not interested in the subject.

"A-Alright, so you have any suggestions?"

"For what?"

"Getting Alfred to like me! What, do you think I'm doing this for free?" Kiku was starting to get irritated. The pencil point even broke under the pressure he was exerting on it and he quickly fished a sharpener out of his bag and re-sharpened it till it was pointy enough to be used by a serial killer.

"Oh, well, for starters... What do you think of him?"

"What does that matter?"

"Just answer it."

"...I...I really like him. S-Since we first met, practically..." Kiku mumbled. "After he helped me get over my crush on your-" Kiku cut himself off short, not saying anymore since by then he'd be digging his own grave if that ever got out.

"Mmhmm...Okay. And what do you think he thinks of you?"

"...A friend? Maybe. At times I wonder if its more like he's using me..." Kiku's grip on the pencil tightened again. Why was he confiding this in Gilbert.

"Using you?"

"L...Like he'd ask me to do his homework. And...he used me in a bet with you..."

Gilbert was silent for a moment before muttering, "I see." and left the table without another word.

Kiku wondered if it was a bad idea to tell Gilbert that. He's never mentioned it to anyone before, not even Yao. Nowhere in his manga did he ever say that Sakura had any insecurity of what John thinks of her.

He wondered if he's made the biggest mistake of his life telling Gilbert that.

* * *

**De-Anon from Kink Meme. **

**Again, I apologize for how long this took. ;;;**


End file.
